How Times Have Changed
by JannP
Summary: Puck is playing on a street corner when Rachel and Finn run into him.  AU one parter, mostly Rachel/Puck/Finn friendship with hints of Finn/Rachel and Puck/Brittany romance.  Inspired by and featuring Josh Damigo's song "Pocket Change".


**A/N: **_So this turned out way different than I originally planned. Inspired by the song Pocket Change by Josh Damigo. Youtube if you are able, but don't make fun of my lyrics. I swear it's different every time he sings it! AU Finn/Rachel and Puck/Brittany but more friendship focused and several years in the future. Please enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **_I own none of it. Does anyone read these anyway?_

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As soon as her eyes settle on the sight, it doesn't matter if she's in a hurry because they have a cast party to get to now that her play is over; it doesn't matter if Finn runs into her when she slams to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk, even though he'll unintentionally plow her over because he's twice her size. She blinks hard, just once, just to make sure—and even that is a miracle because she never does well with even a little bit of uncertainty, now does she?

She fumbles behind her, reaching desperately and blindly for his hand, and finally settling on the woolen sleeve of his coat.

"What's up, babe?" He asks slowly as she pulls him to a stop. He rests a hand on her shoulder, hoping he can be even a little bit of shelter on the busy street so she doesn't get run over. She doesn't say anything to answer him, just points a few steps ahead at the corner.

Seeing some grimy guy pounding on an instrument and singing along is not all that unusual in the city; the instrument could be any variety of things and the words they say might be in any language. The only real commonality is the open case/jar/bucket at their feet where casual passerby drop money in if they feel like it.

But as soon as his eyes land on the guy playing right now on this particular corner, he is sure his expression matches hers.

_No way._

"Did you even know he was in the city?" Rachel asks even as she starts to walk again.

"No," Finn admits. He sighs. They used to be best friends; it seems a little sad to him now that he didn't even know where this guy was at or where he's been. He shrugs. "I haven't seen him since the last time you did."

Rachel nods and slips her hand up over his. "Well this is just going to be weird." Finn doesn't respond, just follows her lead as she approaches their old friend.

He's pacing back and forth in that way he always did when he would play and sing, only really taking up one large square of sidewalk on the busy street corner, rocking himself in time with the bouncy song he's playing.

And it doesn't matter that less than five minutes ago, Finn had to kiss Rachel long enough she finally remembered how to breathe because it's her first cast party tonight and she was so afraid they were going to be late that she launched into a full-on, Rachel Berry, crazy ass panic attack before he could even get himself in the door. It doesn't matter that she was all but running in heels down the street, with even her super tall boyfriend struggling to keep up with her tiny fury. All that matters now is that, somehow, this little bit of Lima, Ohio is here on the New York street corner with them. All that matters now is that they stop to take the time and listen to him because it's been far too long. If they catch up with him, maybe they'll catch up with some part of themselves they had forgotten about.

They slow to a stop just short of where Noah Puckerman (known to Rachel as Noah and to Finn as 'Fuckerman', when last they saw each other) is playing. He must see them, because as the song he was playing fades, he starts right into something that is familiar. As Finn and Rachel brush the dust off the memory, they look at each other with a disbelieving smile. After all, if there was a song that started it _all_…

_Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world… she took the midnight train going anywhere. _

And it doesn't matter that they're standing on a street corner—a public street corner—and they really don't have time to pause. Because the next thing Finn knows, the words are coming out of his mouth. And the next thing Rachel knows, she's answering him musically. And Puck is smiling over at his old friends even as he continues to sing along.

_Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit… he took the midnight train going anywhere._

And it doesn't matter if they're not standing on stage and standing against odds anymore. It doesn't matter if they've technically outgrown all that and the only time they sing together these days (at least as a duet) is in the middle of their living room when they've had a little too much wine.

Okay…beer. Too much beer. But Rachel will still probably never admit it, even if Finn has seen her drink some nasty stuff in the name of budgeting restrictions.

Which is nothing compared to the fact that Puck is here playing on a street corner. Really?

Finn has all of about fourteen dollars on him and drops it in the guitar case at Puck's feet once they have inched up to him. Puck launches out of Journey and into another song with a complicated segue that marks his musical talent. Rachel looks over her shoulder at Finn in amusement, and he smiles at the spark in her chocolate eyes. She's freaking out, kind of like earlier, but different. This is a good kind of freak out, if those are possible. He just shrugs and offers an amused grin, even as she's moving right beside him in time with the unfamiliar song.

_Second Street and Broadway, there's a little bus stop__  
__Just an ordinary downtown of a city just around the block__  
__Jay picks up a six-string, he starts to sing the blues__  
__Plays the King, a little bit of old school, and a couple of new ones, too__  
__See, back where he's from there's this girl that broke his heart__  
__That blonde hair and giggle just tore that boy apart__  
__So he drove into the city where he flat out disappeared__  
__Second Street and Broadway in a town not far from here_

And it doesn't matter that they've never heard the song. It doesn't matter that it's been six and a half years since they saw the guy playing it. For a minute, they're sitting back in the choir room at McKinley, listening to the performance of a weekly assignment. It's okay for them to start dancing, it's okay for them to move closer to him as he performs. It's more than okay; it's expected, at least by Puck. It's the highest kind of approval they can give him. So they do it.

The hell with the people on the street who are staring at the threesome like they're all on crack.

_He sings a song that he wrote for her even though she's miles and miles away__  
__And he dreams of when he held her close, yeah, cause oh how time has changed__  
__Then he switches to a minor key, but the memory won't fade away__  
__Now he's twelve cents short of a bus ride home, playing for your pocket change_

Rachel's hand flutters over her heart as he sings and she realizes that he probably wrote this song. He's here, playing on a street corner because he got his heart broken. He seems sort of happy, and it might appear to be kind of romantic if it weren't so sad. The words are sadder than his demeanor. She flips a quick glance to Finn over her shoulder, wondering if he's caught the overall tone of the song. He's usually pretty sensitive to stuff like that, but he's still just kind of standing behind her and drumming out a little rhythm on her shoulder as she bounces her head.

_You can toss him a nickel, a dime, or even drop a five_  
_He don't care, he's nowhere near there, his mind's in auto drive_  
_And he's thinking of that time when she held that baby cat_  
_And the poor boy sneezed the whole way home but he didn't seem to mind that_  
_And he's praying one day maybe she'd love him again_  
_But he noticed the bucket, nods, and flashes you a small grin_  
_The bus pulls up but no one moves cause no one wants to leave_  
_The night's young and he's doing pretty good, pretty much everyone agrees_

She fights the urge to laugh by pressing a hand to her mouth as, almost like it were choreographed, a bus pulls up. A few of the people who were mingling do board the bus, but there is still a small group gathered here and there around him. They aren't interrupting the pedestrian traffic, but it is kind of unusual to hear a street performer with real talent and without the reek of alcohol wafting from him. Finn catches himself smiling as he looks at the small crowd. The reek of alcohol is likely coming later tonight if he still knows his old friend.

_He sings a song that he wrote for her even though she's miles and miles away__  
__And he dreams of when he held her close, yeah, cause oh how time has changed__  
__Then he switches to a minor key, but the memory won't fade away__  
__Now he's twelve cents short of a bus ride home, playing for your pocket change_

Rachel moves closer to Noah and finally puts her hand on his arm to stop him.

"Is it really you?" She asks, with a huge smile. He turns and leans close to her like he's trying to hug her even though he's still playing, the guitar and six years the only two things between them. Once their friendship had been built, that was the kind of friends they were. They didn't have to talk regularly to still be able to read each other, once upon a time. Then again, it took him a long time to own up to the fact that a girl was one of his best friends, and not only a little because that girl was Rachel Berry.

There are no words to this part of the song and he just nods.

"Will you be here for a while? We have to get somewhere now."

Puck, in a familiar way, shrugs and then starts back into the lyrics.

_Couple of hours later and Jay just shakes his head__  
__All he needed was twelve cents but he's holding eighteen dollars instead__  
__Ya know everyone likes it when they start to snap along__  
__All because the love he had ended so wrong_

Rachel looks over her shoulder at Finn again, feeling a little sad as she hears the lyrics. She's pretty sure she knows what they mean; but then again, it's been a long time since they saw each other, so maybe she's wrong. She's more than a little disconcerted to realize she knows next to nothing about the life of someone who was once a daily part of her life. Then again, he harshly told her that he only gave her and Finn a year of college, a year in the city, before Finn turned tail and ran back home. Maybe she's just idealizing how good of a friend he'd been. She isn't sure, and for the second time in a few minutes, she felt that nagging feeling that she really hated and usually attempted to banish from her life entirely. There is really only one way for her to know now, but in this moment, she and Finn really need to get going.

_He sings a song that he wrote for her even though she's a million miles away__  
__And he dreams of when he held her close, yeah, cause oh how time has changed__  
__Then he switches to a minor key, but the memory won't fade away__  
__Now he's twelve cents short of a bus ride home, playing for your pocket change_

She can't stop staring and smiling as Finn presses closer to her than he was just standing (because really, Rachel is one of like a few thousand people in the world who would think nothing of approaching an almost-stranger on a street corner in New-Fucking-York. He might need to talk to her about that, even if and especially because the stranger she was approaching was Puck). He might be glad to see Puck, but he certainly isn't planning on speaking to him. It's more that 'glad you aren't dead in a ditch somewhere' kind of glad to see him, but that's about it after the last time. There are just some gaps that even a lifelong friendship won't fill and some words you can't take back. It took Finn a long time to learn that, but he knows it now and the last time he saw Puck was certainly part of the lesson.

Puck finishes the song out and then holds his fist out to Finn. Finn bumps it, fighting the smile tugging at his lips as Rachel looks between them with vague amusement.

"So I'll probably stay here for a couple hours." He gestures down to the case at his feet. "I need to make enough money for beer."

"Especially because I just gave you all my cash, so I can't buy you one," Finn says easily. Even if Finn wasn't planning on it, it's pretty clear Rachel has something in mind for an after-party get-together. Puck laughs and shakes his head before he raises a hand to flip Finn off. Rachel swats at his hand, and somehow she has already scribbled her cell phone number down on a small scrap of paper adorned with a gold star.

It's kind of like going back in time just a bit.

"This is on our way home so we'll stop by. If you leave sooner, give me a call." She shoots a firm glance over her shoulder at Finn. "We'll buy you a beer." Finn tries hard not to roll his eyes at how well he knows this girl by now. Puck kind of does a double take (did Rachel Berry, one of the prissiest, classiest people he knew overall just offer to buy him _beer_?) but nods his agreement. The crowd that had gathered, especially when Finn and Rachel were singing along with him, is starting to disperse so he feels the need to get back to it. Rachel gives a little wave as she takes Finn's hand, resuming her former pace easily. Finn just shakes his head and laughs as she drags him double-time to make up for the stop, all the while muttering about how now they were _really _running late.

* * *

Rachel leans against the bar, pushing her feet up off the ground as she does so and attempts to get the bartender's attention. It _would_ be a Friday night when they try to do this and she feels like she's too short to get noticed. One of a few times that a larger-than-life personality doesn't help matters at all.

Finn's hand is on her back and his voice is in here ear as she continues to wave. "Hey, babe. Puck's here. I'll get this."

She casts a quick glance up to him and then looks over at the table they had been trying to secure to see Puck sitting there and observing them.

"Okay," she says easily. He's already taken over trying to get someone's attention so she just lets her hand fall away from his dress shirt and smiles softly as she presses through the crowd to get to the table.

"Well, well, well," she says, sitting down next to their old friend. "Noah Puckerman. What in the world are you doing here?"

He eyes her evenly. "It's fucking New York city. The place was like a magnet for you for your entire life. You just never really paused to think someone else might want to come, too."

She frowns. "I asked you," she defends incredulously. "I asked you, but you were too busy with Brittany to bother with it."

He nods. "Fair enough," he says simply. "And I just let my two best friends walk out of my life. Over a girl."

"Yeah, you did," she says, darting a hand out to rest on his arm. Her voice drops down and he has to lean in to hear her. "You kind of kicked us to the curb." Her eyes are sparkling, though, and telling him it's okay. "So did you write the song you were singing?"

"No," he says, leaning forward and withdrawing his arm from the table, but not in an unfriendly way. Even though he sang several songs, he knows exactly which one she's talking about. "But I might as well have."

"I thought you and Britt were going to get married and have a million trailer-park babies," she replies, leaning forward as well, pressing a little closer in the space to be more easily heard even though her voice was never really dimmed regardless of location.

"Well, that was the plan I guess," he says awkwardly. "Except for the fucking trailer park and the million babies. No goddamn way." He rubs his hand over the back of his neck.

She laughs. Back when they had teased him about staying behind in Lima as they left, that had actually been the catalyst for a really huge fight. Finn and Puck had never gotten back into touch after their falling out, but it hadn't mattered because Lima and New York always felt like two different worlds. Really, all those plans had been Puck's mom's plans and something she had pushed for after Puck and Brittany had gotten serious prior to graduation. Rachel had never been able to really envision him as a parent, and she had really tried back in high school before they all knew Quinn was going to give up their baby.

Finn appears at last, having had more difficulty squeezing through the crowd than Rachel did, and sets down a trio of beers right in the middle of the table. Rachel reaches out and takes one, following up with a healthy sip from the frosty mug as Noah gapes at her.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. Now I've seen everything," he says. "Rachel Fucking Berry drinking a beer."

Rachel sighs and rolls her eyes. Finn laughs because, even though the memories are hazy, they're coming back to him. He knows what she's going to say before the words are out of her mouth. "Please allow me to remind you—_again—_that 'fucking' is not actually my middle name."

Puck shakes his head and pulls his own beer toward him. The hits just keep on coming—she just said fuck, too. "Well, I thought for sure you'd have a different last name by now." His gaze darts to Finn, unsure how much he is really comfortable saying given the nature of their last conversation. They had bumped into each other at the grocery store once when Finn and Rachel were back for a brief visit home, but they had kind of pretended they didn't really see each other. Now he's not sure how to act.

"We're really in no rush," Rachel says simply. Okay, now Puck knows he's entered a new dimension. This is the part of the video game where he becomes vapor, right? Because Rachel is always intense and in a hurry and…

"Well, why the fuck not?"

"Really—you're questioning our lack of commitment when you're playing for your nightly beer on a street corner with no ring on your own finger after you did a complete character-180 and became Brittany's lapdog?" Rachel says tightly. She leans forward as her tone changes from curious to mad in a flash.

Okay, maybe Rachel hasn't changed that much. But Puck knows he has.

He lets out a long breath and eyes her warily. Shoulda known he would only sit here for a minute before he pissed her off and then spilled his guts. That was the problem with hanging out with Rachel for him. She just had a way of laying all his shit bare. As he shifts in his chair uncomfortably, he sees Finn's hand slide up her back and disappear under her long hair.

"Brittany left me okay? She left."

"Why would she do that?" Rachel demands.

Puck takes a healthy drink of his beer before he leans forward to answer her. The three friends are huddling around the table.

"She's a dancer in Vegas now. It was always her 'dream'."

Rachel scowls. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, sweet cheeks. I'm positive you aren't deaf." He looks up at Finn to gauge Finn's defensiveness. It's like a habit for him, harassing Rachel, even if there is a lot of time between them all now. "He might be after being with you for this long." By the time Finn and Rachel left, Finn had learned how to defend her and it had become his first instinct. It was actually the reason the two boys had come to physical blows during the fateful argument.

But because times have changed, Finn just laughs (maybe the comment broke the ice a little) and Rachel looks over at him with a smirk as she turns back to Puck to pump him for more information.

"So she's dancing in Vegas. And you're here?" She asks. She sits back in her chair so she can pick up her mug again.

"Yup. As soon as she left, I did too."

Now it's Finn's turn. "Hold up a second. You've been here that long and you haven't ever tried to find us, douchebag?"

Puck blinks and looks at him, and he wonders if maybe Finn actually missed their friendship a little bit. Maybe he should've called, maybe he should've done a lot of things, but then again—none of life has gone according to plan anyway. He'd thrown the plan out a long time ago. "Wasn't sure I would be welcome."

"You were always welcome," Finn says softly. "It would've been kinda nice to have you around. We've been through hard things, you know. Could've used old friends."

"Hard things," Puck snorts. "Without all the high school bullshit, what have you possibly had to deal with in your fairy tale lives?"

Finn and Rachel share a loaded glance. Now is hardly the time to get into detailing daily struggles, especially not with someone who has apparently been through so much himself.

Puck shakes his head. "Whatever," he snorts. "Cast party, right? This was what, your tenth starring role on Broadway?" He looks at Rachel but sees Finn's jaw tighten as his eyes move. "What would you know about _hard_, princess? It's been a long time since the one you loved let you down."

She stands up abruptly and walks away, or rather stomps away, without another word and Puck's eyes go wide for two reasons. First reason? Rachel Berry is still wearing a short skirt like she always used to but now she's wearing knee-high leather boots with it. She's grown up. Second reason? It's been a long time since he's seen a patented Rachel Berry storm out, but it looks like she had more fire in her eyes during this one.

"Thanks a lot, man." Finn says, his eyes following her as she gets swallowed up by the crowd in the bar. "Do you know how long it takes to even find her in a place like this?"

"What's going on?" Puck says. "Maybe after graduation is like an alternate universe or something because I have no fucking idea what to say."

Finn shakes his head, his eyes still trained on the last spot he'd seen Rachel. "Maybe. I mean, you're playing songs on street corners about loving cheerleaders who left you high and dry…" he shrugs and takes a pull from his beer. "Rachel can't get a starring role to save her life, although she _did_ just finally wrap as an ensemble member for an actual Broadway show. And I'm the only one with my fucking head on right."

Puck looks at him in surprise. "You made decisions? You have a good job in the city?" Puck takes a pull from his beer. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," Finn says sharply. "I know it's hard for you to believe, and maybe would be for everyone else because they think I'm dumber than a box of rocks, but it's true. I love my life. I love my job. I love my girl."

"Then why aren't you married?" Puck asks, now more lost than ever.

Finn hesitates, his voice weighted down as he finally answers. "Well, we were supposed to get married once, but Rachel's dad died right after we made the announcement. She didn't want to go through with it after that. In fact, this part she was celebrating tonight is the first time she's been back on stage since it happened."

"I had no idea," Puck says with a serious face. He takes another pull from his beer before he holds the cup out like he's gesturing toward something. "But then again, I guess some things never change."

Finn's eyes follow the line made by the beer mug, wandering over the crowd to see Rachel standing behind someone on a small stage.

"All right, I think we've got this stuff working now." The middle-aged man wearing an unfortunate hat is leaning into the mike but still turning back to look at Rachel with a wink that makes both Finn and Puck kind of want to kill him. And she's standing there, not looking nervous or particularly impressed.

"So anyway, first up because she is very convincing, is Miss Rachel Berry. Welcome to karaoke night, folks."

She smiles as she steps up to the mike, but then kind of looks at it like it still smells like that guy and it grosses her out. No matter how tense the conversation just a minute ago, Finn and Puck share an amused glance at her revulsion as she opens up her mouth and begins to sing.

And it doesn't matter that they are in the middle of an awkward reunion or explanations none of them really want to give. It doesn't matter that all of that happened a long time ago. All that matters is she's on stage, singing, and somehow managing to reunite them and make herself feel a little better at the same time. And Puck swears he'll be damned, but he might even feel a little better about things, too.

It's only two songs and maybe three drinks later (after her sincerely offering to let someone else and no one in the full bar accepting) when she motions to where the boys are still sitting at the table.

"So I heard a rumor that a friend of mine is twelve cents short of a bus ride home. If I have him come up and play the song, do you think you guys could help him out for me?" She has a way with a crowd and they cheer drunken cheers all around her.

It has not escaped Finn's attention that most of the people whooping and hollering near the small stage tucked back into the corner of the L-shaped bar are male, so he eases up to the stage with Puck, then Puck pulls out his guitar and leaves the case open like it was.

He reaches up for the microphone and turns back to Rachel with a little bit of a smile on his face before he faces the crowd of rowdy drunks. "So I guess this is for Brittany. She's the reason I'm here singing tonight, even if this one is the one who dragged me up here," he adds as an afterthought with a thumb over his shoulder at Rachel.

And it doesn't matter that they haven't sung together for years. And it also doesn't matter that Rachel has only heard the song once on the street corner, just a few hours ago, she harmonizes with him anyway (because she's always willing to put her vocal performance degree to use). Finn stands just at their feet and watches, moving in time with the song. Eventually they pull him up onstage, too, and relive the heyday of New Directions music as much as they can with just the three of them.

Finally, someone boots them off the stage because they want a turn to perform. Their old table is occupied, so Rachel and Finn invite Puck back to their shoebox apartment for a nightcap. And he goes. They tally up the money he made outside and the money they made in the bar before Puck admits he wasn't trying to earn beer or bus fare or anything else—he's saving up to move to Las Vegas so he can go find Brittany. He's now much, much closer and even almost there.

And it doesn't matter if Finn and Rachel both have to work tomorrow morning. Well, okay, maybe it matters a little to Finn because there is no way he's going to catch a nap at the fire station because Saturday morning is really busy for some still-unknown reason. But for now, they're getting all the information on this breakup from their old friend and inviting him to stay just a little bit longer. And sure, things have changed and will keep changing, but it all seems to matter a little less now.


End file.
